Preparing the FIlling

Making stollen is a 2 day process. Please read the directions carefully to familiarize yourself with the process before starting. 

In a medium sized bowl, mix together the chopped dried candied orange peel, dates, craisins and cherries and soak in warm water for 15 minutes. Drain water from fruit and pat the fruit dry. 

Place the fruit back in the bowl and add orange juice and zest. Mix the mixture and cover with Saran wrap or a towel and let sit overnight in the refrigerator. 

Dough {Step 1}

In a large bowl, add the warm milk, active dried yeast, sugar and flour. Stir gently until combined. Cover and let sit for 30-45 minutes until the dough has some nice bubbles in it and has risen a bit. 

Dough {Step 2}

Once the dough has risen, add the egg yolks, sugar and cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt to the dough and gently stir until combined. 

Add the almond flour and gently stir it in until combined.

Add the flour {the dough will become stiff but make sure the flour is mixed in before the next step} kneading by hand 4-5 minutes or with a stand mixer and dough hook.

Next slowly work in the butter until everything is combined.

Cover and put the bowl in a warm place to let the dough rise {about 45-60 minutes depending on the warmth of your kitchen}. 

Once the dough has risen, push the dough down again, form into a ball and let the dough rise again {about 45-60 minutes depending on the warmth of your kitchen}. 

Once the dough has risen, turn it out onto a very lightly floured surface and gently fold in the fruit mixture. 

Shape the dough into a rectangle and divide the dough into 4 equal parts and shape into loaves. 

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Transfer the dough onto lined baking sheets. Cover and let rise for 30 minutes. 

Bake stollen for about 60 minutes making sure to rotate the pan halfway through the baking time. 

Cool baking sheets on a wire rack. 

After the stollen has rested for 15-20 minutes, brush the loaves with melted butter {making sure to use all of it!} and sprinkle them with powdered sugar. 

Wrap stollen and enjoy fresh within 2-3 days or wrap and pop them in the freezer to pull out later.